Police

Black-and-white photograph from February 1968 taken by the Memphis Press-Scimitar newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee. The photograph shows a long row of white Memphis police officers facing a building. Several of the police officers have cans of mace in their hands; one officer has a gas mask in his other hand.

The Memphis Sanitation Workers' strike began on February 11, 1968, following years of dangerous working conditions, discrimination, and the work-related deaths of two African American sanitation workers. Led by local clergy, community members engaged in boycotts, mass meetings, marches, and other civil disobedience in support of the strike. The strike ended April 12, 1968.

The University of Tennessee Libraries (Knoxville, Tennessee) is the digital publisher.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.